Dundalk chaos continues as Giovagnoli quits
A WEEKEND of turmoil for Dundalk FC continued yesterday with the departure of Filippo Giovagnoli from the club after an eight-month spell. The Italian coach said his goodbyes to players at training, having taken charge of the Co Louth side for the 28th and final time on Saturday in their 1-1 draw with St Patrick’s Athletic at Oriel Park. His exit follows on from that of team manager Shane Keegan, who tendered his resignation on Friday night, although neither departure has yet to be formally acknowledged by the club, who have issued a firm ‘no comment’ on all matters over the weekend. It is now expected that sporting director Jim Magilton, academy manager Stephen McDonnell and Giovagnoli’s assistant Giuseppe Rossi will take charge of the side for the club’s trip to face bottom of the table Derry City at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium tomorrow night. Former Northern Ireland international Magilton has managed both Ipswich Town and Queens Park Rangers in England, while Dundalk man McDonnell also has managerial experience with Warrenpoint Town in the NIFL Premiership. Giovagnoli first
arrived in Ireland as an unknown from the Met Oval Academy in New York last August as an interim appointment following Vinny Perth’s departure from Oriel Park in the wake of the club’s Champions League first qualifying round defeat to Slovenian champions NK Celje in Hungary. Giovagnoli subsequently guided the border side to the group stages of the Europa League and secured silverware by clinching the Extra.ie FAI Cup against Shamrock Rovers in Aviva Stadium last December. That led to him being given the job on a permanent basis on December 8, but before the start of the season on March 9 he was demoted from head coach to coach, with Keegan named team manager. That was in order for the club to get around the fact that the 50-year-old did not hold a Pro Licence – something which led to a €50,000 fine from UEFA for the charge of ‘shadow coaching’ in the Europa League group stages. While Dundalk did go on to lift the President’s Cup against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium last month, their start to the new league season has been one of the poorest in the club’s history, with just two points taken from their opening five games, leaving them sitting in ninth place, already nine points off the top. Giovagnoli won just three of 14 league matches in charge, with two of those coming against Shelbourne and Cork City, who were both subsequently relegated to the First Division. Magilton refused to comment on the managerial situation after the game on Saturday, saying: ‘We will clarify everything in the next few days, I promise you that.’ The former Southampton player also dismissed criticism of the running of the club and chairman Bill Hulsizer after fans held aloft banners at Saturday’s game claiming the place was being run ‘like a circus.’ He said: ‘What were they, 20 kids? ‘At the end of the day nobody is working harder than the people within this football club to turn results around – players, staff, everyone – and we know that the start hasn’t been what we wanted it to be.’ Asked had Hulsizer had an influence on first-team affairs, Magilton added: ‘No. He doesn’t get involved in anything. Nothing.’ When it was put to him that Hulsizer had interfered in the past, Magilton replied: ‘Well, it won’t happen on my watch. ‘We keep reflecting on last year but we made a decision this year, a conscious decision, to build our coaching structure and that’s what we’ve done and we’re not going to go away from that. We won’t change that.’ A club statement is expected later today.